Police to probe violations of Racial Hostility Act.

Last Updated on Monday, 16 March 2015, 0:58 by GxMedia

Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud said investigations would be conducted to determine whether utterances by Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo and political activist, David Hinds have violated the Racial Hostility Act.

Jagdeo, as a former president, enjoys immunity from prosecution.

Asked whether there were grounds to enforce that law in light of utterances by Jagdeo and Hinds, the Police Commissioner said “investigations would have to be conducted.”  He said advice would be sought from the Police Force’s Legal Adviser, Retired Justice Claudette Singh and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“We have an obligation to enforce al laws that we are responsible to enforce. We will make our best efforts to enforce them,” he said when asked what would be his approach to the People’s Progressive Party’s request that he invokes the Racial Hostility Act.

Executive Secretary of the PPP has asked the Police Commissioner to probe Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Member, Veerasammmy Ramaya’s remarks on DTV Channel 8 (New Amsterdam) that the PPP is an Indo-Guyanese party that was conducting a campaign against Afro-Guyanese. Those remarks were allegedly made on February 28, 2015.

The PPP also complained about the Kaieteur News newspaper, in its headline on page 1 of the edition of the 10th day of March, 2015, “Rohee endorses Jagdeo statement that PPP is a ‘coolie people’ party. “There was no corresponding article to that headline,” said Mustapha.

The PPP has not made any references to Jagdeo’s recently spouted allegation that at the November 2011 general elections,  persons beating drums had gone through a number of areas urging people to go and vote out the “coolie people” from office.

A call by Dr. Hinds  for Guyanese, mainly Afro-Guyanese, to desist from engaging in tit-for-tat. He appealed for restraint.

But the Head of the Criminal Investigations Department, Assistant Commissioner Leslie James telephoned Hinds in Arizona asking him if he had evidence about who killed Crum-Ewing. Hinds has since denied a claim by the Guyana Police Force that James warned him to desist from making such utterances.

“I defy the police “warning” and hereby reiterate my call to opposition supporters, in particular African Guyanese, to stay clear of any violent response. And I join President Ramotar in calling on the police authorities to do everything in their power to find the killers and any possible intellectual authors and bring them to justice,” he said.